


SHIELD's Little Surprise - Part 9 - Family Therapy

by SHIELDAgentMD



Series: SHIELD's Little Surprise [12]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spoilers, Corporal Punishment, Gen, Spanking, Team as Family, Therapy, love and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:04:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6735361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHIELDAgentMD/pseuds/SHIELDAgentMD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SHIELD welcomes another guest to the base, and the team learns hard facts about little Skye's past... facts that help explain current behaviors, and unfortunately causes some more.  Lots of love and fluff, as per usual!</p>
            </blockquote>





	SHIELD's Little Surprise - Part 9 - Family Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> Happy reading!

**Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD**

**SHIELD’s Little Surprise**

**Chapter 9 – Family Therapy**

This is a fanfic based upon the incredible television series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.   This is the ninth in a series of stories that takes place not long after the Season 2 finale.  These stories are meant to be fun, sweet, thought-provoking and heart-warming.  They *may* or may not contain scenes of corporal discipline (spanking), possibly of a minor child.  This is *not* a ‘condonement’ of spanking children in any way, and any such scene will be depicted in a very loving, non-abusive manner.  If this may still be a trigger for you, I encourage you not to read this series.

Every character referred to is directly from the show/Marvel Universe, and I hold NO claim to the characters or the plotlines of the show that many of my stories are based on.  I *highly* recommend watching the first two seasons of episodes before reading these stories, as many references to events in the episodes will be made, and therefore, better understood.  **WARNING:  These stories will contain spoilers from the show, up until the Season 2 finale.**   (Minus what happened to Jemma Simmons there, because I refused to accept that!  ;)  )  Enjoy!

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Chapter 9 - Family Therapy**

 

Little Skye enjoys taking care of her furry little friends for the next few days, until she and Bobbi bring home the news that Skye’s teacher has agreed to accept the two rats as classroom pets.  This arrangement suits Skye wonderfully, as it means that she’ll still get to see ‘Anna’ and ‘Olaf’ regularly and help care for them.

That very afternoon, a visitor arrives at the base.  Coulson heads to meet him in the hangar bay.

“Dr. Garner… it’s good to see you.  Thank you for coming,” the Director states, extending his hand as he approaches. 

“My pleasure,” Andrew responds.  “To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to work with kids in quite a while.  I’ve rather missed it.”

“Well… this is a special one,” Phil quips with a fond smile, leading the way back into the base.

“Of course she is.  Skye was quite a special adult.  I look forward to meeting her six year-old self,” Andrew agrees.

Coulson opens the hangar door and spots the special youngster herself flying down the hall toward him.  “Well, now’s your chance.”

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” Skye chants happily as she flies straight toward him and pounces.

Coulson catches the little ball of energy in his arms with an ‘oof’, twirling her around playfully.  “Hey there, sweetie.  There’s someone here I’d like you to meet.  Skye, this is Dr. Garner.  Dr. Garner, this is Skye.”

Skye looks curiously up at Andrew from Phil’s shoulder. 

Andrew has to stop himself from pointing out that they’ve already met.  “Well, hello Skye,” he says, offering the child a kind smile.  “I’ve heard lots of wonderful things about you.”

Skye gives her father a grin, looking rather pleased with herself.  “Hi,” she replies.  She tilts her head in her adorably curious way and says, “you’re a doctor?  Like Jemma?”

Andrew chuckles.  “Not quite.  Jemma is a doctor that helps heal people’s bodies, when they are injured or sick.  I am more of a ‘talking doctor’… I help people’s minds.  People can come to me when they need to talk about things.”

Coulson rubs the youngster’s back as he carries her into the rec room.  “In fact Skye, Dr. Garner and I need to talk for a bit now.  How about you go play with Fitz for a few minutes?” he suggests as he sets her gently down.

Skye whines and shakes her head.  “No, Fitz and Jemma are working… and sitting real close together,” Skye adds, making a face, apparently a bit disturbed by this.  “And Mommy and Aunt Bobbi are training, so I can’t go in there.  So, I wanna stay wif you!”

Coulson sighs and thinks for a minute, then says, “okay, Skye.  But go get your music.  You can listen to ‘Frozen’ for a bit.”

“Okay!” the little girl agrees readily, and dashes out.

Phil gives Andrew a sheepish smile as he gestures to the brown leather couch.  “Sorry.  This is our lives now.  We can still talk.  If we’re able to hear each other over her singing along, that is.  Are you familiar with the animated movie, ‘Frozen’?”

Andrew smiles and shakes his head.  “Only by commercials.”

“Well, hang around here, and you will get to know it very well,” Coulson quips, looking toward the doorway as Skye comes sliding back into the room at a run.

“Got it!”  The youngster chirps happily, sticking the earphones in her ears and choosing a song.

Andrew watches in interest and mutters, “does she need help with that?”

Coulson scoffs.  “Please.  Did you forget who we’re talking about?  Even at six, Skye is more tech-savvy than I am.”

Sure enough, a second later Skye has flopped down on the rug behind the couch and starts singing along with her mp3 player.  “All my life has been a series of doors in my face.  And then suddenly I bump into youuu!”[1]

Both Coulson and Andrew grin fondly as they peer over the couch at her.  Skye has pulled her small computer over and settles down to choose a game to play.

“Quite a voice,” Dr. Garner remarks, impressed, turning the sound off on his phone to not be interrupted and setting it on the arm of the couch behind him.

“I know,” Coulson agrees.  “We’re all thrilled that she’ll have a back-up career in case she, you know, is no longer interested in becoming a SHIELD agent,” he quips.

Andrew looks carefully at him.  “Huh.  I’m glad to hear you say that… that you acknowledge that possibility.”

The SHIELD director looks back in surprise.  “Of course we do.  Skye is six years-old.  Well, so we think,” he shrugs.  “All we want for her is to have a happy, healthy childhood, as she was denied that the first time around.”

Dr. Garner nods slowly.  “That’s wonderful.  Though I can’t help but wonder why she is already so tech-savvy then.”

Coulson blinks and puts his hands up.  “Hey… that’s innate.  We certainly don’t force it, but we don’t discourage it either.  We want her to be herself.”

Andrew nods.  “Well Phil… this is, without a doubt, a unique situation.  And I won’t lie… I have some concerns.”

“Join the club,” Coulson replies with a sigh.  “I question every single day whether we are doing right by Skye… if this is the best ‘lifestyle’ for her.  I worry, all the time, about her safety and well-being.”

Dr. Garner grins.  “You sound like a father,” he states quietly.

Coulson can’t help but smile back as he nods.  “I do question it… but then I look at Skye.  I see how happy she is here, with us… how well-adjusted and cared for and loved she is.  And there are so many people here who would die to protect her.  She seems to be thriving in every possible way here.” 

Phil pauses to listen to Skye singing again: “Say good-byeee to the pain of the past.  We don’t has to feel it anymore… Love is an open doorrr!” 

He chuckles and shrugs, gesturing toward her.  “You see??” 

Both men laugh at the impeccable timing.

“But really,” Coulson admits, “sometimes I worry that I’m just being selfish.  I try to imagine my life without Skye and…“ Phil noticeably shutters.  “I just… I can’t stand the thought.”

Andrew looks at Coulson carefully as he trails off.  After a moment’s pause during which the two men enjoy the angelic little voice singing behind them once more, the skilled psychologist says, “well… May tells me that you and she are Skye’s legal guardians now.”

Phil sits up a bit straighter with obvious pride.  “Her parents…” he corrects.  “Yes.”

Dr. Garner nods slowly, then takes a deep breath before addressing Coulson quietly once again.  “Well, I’ll level with you Phil.  I definitely have my concerns about a child… *any child*… growing up in a SHIELD base.  The possibility of danger is very real.  However, having said that… I have seen children being raised in all manner of conditions.  Many of them would have given me much more doubt and concern than this one.” 

Coulson looks up hopefully.

“Why don’t you tell me about some of your specific concerns?” Dr. Garner suggests.

Coulson nods, having already given this a lot of thought.  “Well, there’s the obvious issues.  Our biggest concern is keeping Skye far from any danger.  It’s working pretty well so far.  Except…”

Andrew waits patiently for Coulson to find the words…

Phil sighs heavily.  “Well… a couple weeks ago we had a surprise visit from an Asgardian.”

Andrew inhales sharply.  “A friendly one, or a hostile one?” he asks, thinking of Loki.

“A friendly one, in general.  We have actually worked with her a few times before, and she knew the adult Skye.  When she learned of Skye’s transformation however… well, let’s just say that she had some serious suspicions.”  At Dr. Garner’s puzzled look Coulson explains.  “She accused us of ‘dark sorcery’.”

Andrew just blinks, having nearly forgotten about the wide variety of very strange crap that SHIELD often has to deal with.

“This... 'friendly' Asgardian actually kidnapped Skye and whisked her off to Asgard to try to figure out whether she is a threat.  Jemma was taken too, though that was rather by accident."  At this, Andrew makes note that he should check in with Jemma while here as well, to see how she's coping with having traveled to another world.  "Well anyway… thank ‘the gods’ it worked out and we got her back… along with a ton of important information on her transformation.  In general though, when we have a mission someone stays behind with her, or takes her to a safe house.  It… usually works out really well.”

Andrew nods, thinking that a perfectly reasonable plan. 

“Other than that, there seems to be some fear of the dark.  Even when she’s sleeping tucked under May’s arm, Skye has to have a small amount of light on at night.  It doesn’t bother May though, and I guess that’s pretty typical for children, right?” 

“Very common.  Young children have quite active imaginations, after all.  Who knows what could be lurking in the dark?” Andrew agrees with a smile.

Phil nods.  “Then… there’s a question of discipline,” Coulson states carefully.  “It’s odd… Skye reacts very adversely to time-outs or corner time.  I’d almost say they’re traumatic to her.”

Dr. Garner’s eyebrows furrow.  “Hmm… interesting.  So, what have you been doing instead?”

Coulson sighs heavily.  “Well… and this is another of my concerns.  She seems to respond best to… well, spanking.”

Andrew sighs heavily now, too, with a disapproving look.

“Granted, the average of what she gets is just a few light swats, and only ever by hand.  I have never approved of it really, myself, but I have to admit that it works, and seems much less upsetting to her than a time-out… which really surprises me.”

Andrew nods thoughtfully.  “Well, every child is different, of course, and where there is a traumatic response there is generally a reason why, from their past.  I have a few scholarly articles on the merits of different forms of discipline; I can pull them up on my phone.  Why don’t you tell me what her response to a time-out is like?”  Dr. Garner looks around, his eyebrows furrowed again.  “Wait… where is my phone?”

Coulson blinks, then sighs and leans up to peer stealthily over the back of the couch.  Sure enough…  “Well, Andrew… I think you are going to see firsthand exactly how she reacts to the threat of a time-out.”

The disappointed father stands and walks around the couch.  The movement catches Skye’s attention and the youngster quickly drops the object she’s toying with into her lap and tries to hide it with her hands.  As Skye turns her most innocent expression up toward her father, Coulson’s frown deepens.

“Hand it over, Skye,” Phil says quietly, letting his disappointment be heard.

The little girl seems to consider claiming that she’s not hiding anything, but the matter-of-fact expression on her father’s face keeps her from trying to fib.  Instead she gives a dramatic sigh and holds up the phone. 

Phil shakes his head as he takes it.  “Skye Daisy,” he scolds gently, employing May’s technique of using Skye’s middle name whenever the child is in trouble.  “What is the rule regarding using people’s phones?” 

Skye fidgets more than ever, her eyes downcast.  “I don’t touch people’s phones wifout permission,” she recites dejectedly, having obviously heard this many times.

Phil nods.  “I’ve told you sweetie… if you want to play on a phone, you need to ask first.  We have talked about this many, many times… haven’t we?”

With a very pronounced pout, little Skye nods.

Coulson looks carefully at the little girl, steeling himself.  “Well then… you’re in trouble, Skye.  I think you need a time-out.”

Skye gasps and looks up with wide eyes.  “No… no, Daddy, no!!” she shrieks.  “No time-out!”

Dr. Garner, who had risen from the couch and stepped aside to quietly observe, sees tears immediately welling up in the little girl’s eyes.  He notices her body tense and her breathing become a bit shallow, and wonders about this strong reaction.

Coulson hates putting Skye through this, but she is in trouble and he thinks it important for Dr. Garner to witness.  “Well Skye, you were naughty, and now you’re in trouble.  You know better than to take someone’s phone without asking.”

But the little girl is now practically beside herself.  “Daddy, please,” she cries.  “No time-outtt.”  With that, she reaches up and grasps Coulson’s shirt, tugging as if she wants to climb right up him.  “I’n sorry, Daddy, I’n sorry!  Don’t leave me,” she adds, tears streaming down her little cheeks.

Coulson can’t stand it anymore.  He lifts the child into his arms and hugs her as she clings to him.  The father glances over at his psychologist friend, and Andrew nods his understanding.

After providing a quiet minute of comfort, Phil says softly, “okay, Skye.  I’ll tell you what.  You’ve been naughty, and you’re in trouble.  So you tell me what you think should happen.  You’re either going to go sit in the corner in time-out for five minutes, or you’re going to get a spanking.  Which do you think it should be?”

The two men can hear a sad sob from the little girl, whose face is buried in her father’s shoulder.  She doesn’t respond for a moment, but finally Coulson hears a quiet mumble that he can’t comprehend. 

“What, sweetheart?” he asks quietly, unable to even pretend he’s angry, despite his exasperation.

Skye slowly lifts her wet face from his shoulder and rubs her eyes with her fists before saying more clearly, “a spankin”.

Coulson glances at Andrew briefly again as he gently strokes Skye’s hair.  “Are you sure?”

Skye sniffles hard and nods, looking quite miserable.

“Okay,” Phil whispers, and Andrew thinks he can hear the director of SHIELD’s voice break slightly.

The dejected father walks back around the couch, still cuddling his daughter close.  He sits down and stands Skye in front of him, to look into her eyes.  “All right, Skye.  Why are you in trouble?” he asks, wanting to be extra sure that the youngster understands what she did wrong in the hopes that they can avoid yet another repeated offense.

Amidst sniffles, Skye replies shakily, “I-I taked the doctor’s phone wifout asking”.

Coulson nods sadly.  “I hope this will help you remember not to take things without permission, sweetie.”  With that, he gently lays her over his lap.  Once there, he hesitates, giving a very unhappy exhale.  He actually looks toward the doorway, hoping that May will appear there and he can beg her to take care of things.  Of course, May is not there, and he finds himself once more forced to carry out a punishment that he really doesn’t want to partake in.

Resting a soft hand on his daughter’s back, Phil sighs heavily again and whispers down to her, “Skye?  You know I love you… right?”

Skye pauses in her squirming just long enough to nod.

Phil nods back wordlessly, then swallows hard as he begins his most dreaded fatherly duty.  He brings his hand down firmly against the seat of Skye’s jeans five times.

Swat Swat Swat Swat Swat

Despite little Skye’s squirms and whining, Andrew can tell that Phil is using very minimal strength.  While the skilled psychologist is still uncomfortable with this form of punishment, he is appeased by Coulson’s obvious love and care for the child.

“Okay, sweetie.  All done.  And I’m sure that you are all done taking phones, aren’t you?” Coulson prompts softly, lifting Skye up and into his arms.

The youngster sniffles and nods, wrapping her arms around her father’s neck.

Phil holds Skye close and rubs her back.  Finally he whispers, “what do you say to Dr. Garner?”

Skye glances up, and while Andrew hears her sniffle, he notices that there are no longer any tears present.

“Sorry, Doctor,” Skye mutters.

Andrew gives the youngster a smile.  “It’s okay, Skye.  I know that phones are really neat, aren’t they?”

As Skye nods again Coulson addresses her, patting her bottom gently as the others tend to do when trying to comfort the little girl.  “Skye, sweetie… if you want to play a game on someone’s phone, or watch a video… just ask, okay?  Most of the time, we’ll say yes, unless we need to use it at that moment.  You won’t get in trouble if you ask nicely.  Got it?”

Skye looks down and nods.  “Got it.”

“Good girl,” Phil praises softly.

Skye squirms a bit, then asks quietly, “Daddy, are you still mad at me?”

Coulson blinks.  “Mad at you?  Not at all, sweetie.  It’s all over.  I’m not mad at you.”

“Then how come you’re still spankin’ me?”

Coulson blinks again, then laughs.  “I’m not spanking you, Skye.  These are ‘love pats’,” he informs the youngster.

“Oh,” Skye responds simply.  The adorable little girl seems to accept this quite easily, laying her head contentedly back on Phil’s shoulder.

The Director smiles and plants a loving kiss on the top of Skye’s head.  “Okay sweetie… listen.  Dr. Garner here is a good friend of mine… and of Mommy’s.  I’d really like you and him to get to know each other.  So, how about you go put away your music, and when you come back you two can spend some time together?”

Skye gives Andrew another curious look, then turns back to her father.  “And you, too?” she asks hopefully.

Coulson turns to Andrew, who shrugs and nods.

“Sure, sweetie, I’ll stay with you.”

Skye nods and wriggles to get down, then heads out.

Andrew chuckles.  “Well Coulson… I’ll say one thing.  Seeing as how that little girl doesn’t know the difference between ‘love pats’ and a spanking… I’d say you’re doing it right.”

Phil actually chuckles at this, too.  “You know… I feel better about it after that.”

After a moment of content quiet, Dr. Garner looks pensive.  “Her reaction to a time-out, however… that was indeed pretty extreme.  And what she said… ‘don’t leave me’.  I suppose that it’s not hard to see how being put in time-out could feel a bit like abandonment to Skye.  Children with severe abandonment issues will often worry that any separation could be permanent.  If they feel like the caregiver is upset with them in that moment, it just compounds that fear.”

Coulson nods, thinking that that makes perfect sense.  He wishes that he could help his new daughter feel more secure in her place here, but understands that that can only come with time, love and consistency.

Skye returns then and immediately steps beside Coulson and slips her hand into his.  As if to confirm their thoughts, the little girl seems to be making sure that her adoptive father isn’t going anywhere.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

“So, how did it go?” May asks an hour later when Coulson approaches her in the kitchen.

The Director grabs a beer from the fridge and pops off the top as he moves next to her.  “It went well, I think.  It was mostly a ‘getting to know you’ session, nothing too probative.  Andrew let Skye guide the conversation, which was mostly about having visited Stark and her trip to Asgard.  Oh, and ‘Frozen’, of course.”

Melinda nods as she slices a cucumber in her quick, somewhat brutal fashion.  “So… what did she say about Asgard?” she asks in a would-be casual tone.

Phil glances at May out of the corner of his eye.  “Oh, she spoke mostly about getting her flying horse, and playing with Thor, and swimming with Simmons at some special pool with waterfalls.”

With a lump in her throat May nods again, then can’t help but ask, “and that’s all?”

“Should there be more?”

Melinda shoots Coulson a sharp look, then purses her lips in annoyance and mutters, “apparently not.  Forget it.”

Coulson sets the beer down and leans against the counter, turning to face his partner-in-parenting.  “That’s all, May.  Skye is fine.  She’s incredibly well-adjusted for having been kidnapped and transported halfway across the galaxy.”

“But she’s not,” Melinda counters suddenly, setting down the knife and turning to face him at last, her eyes clouded with pain.  “She’s still having nightmares.  Maybe not nightly, but often enough.  The experience is still haunting her subconsciously.”

Phil looks carefully into May’s eyes.  “Well, that’s no surprise, is it?  It was a traumatic experience, sure.  It’ll take her some time to let it go…”

“But wasn’t the whole point of giving her this second chance at a childhood to keep her from having traumatic experiences??  To let her grow up like… like a normal little girl?  Being abducted by aliens is not a normal childhood experience, Phil.”

“I agree,” Coulson admits.  “But it happened, and yes, it may take some time for her to feel completely safe again, but…”

“Is she safe?  I don’t know, Phil.  I’m constantly questioning whether this is the best place for Skye.  I love to believe that I… that we… can keep her safe from anything, but none of us could prevent her abduction, nor could we retrieve her once it happened.  And judging by her dreams, I’m not so sure that Skye has forgiven us for not coming to rescue her.”

Coulson considers this for a moment, briefly appreciating how open May is being with her feelings.  “Well… that may be.  But Mel, I swear, in telling Andrew all about it, she spoke as if it was all just some big, exciting adventure.  I promise.  In fact, as soon as we were done, she ran and got her horse to play with, then dragged Andrew off to the lab to make Jemma show him the pictures she took.  She is happy and healthy here, and seems to be looking back at the whole experience fondly.  What more can we ask for?”

While somewhat relieved, May can’t help but sigh as she turns back to the counter to slaughter some bell peppers.  “Easy for you to say.  You’re not the one being kicked awake at 3am by a crying, thrashing little girl.”

Phil considers this too, moving around to massage May’s shoulders.  “You must be quite sleep-deprived.  Do you want to make other sleeping arrangements for awhile?  I’m sure Jemma wouldn’t mind taking Skye at ni…”

“Get off me,” May snaps playfully, shrugging Coulson’s hands from her shoulders.  “No.  I don’t want other arrangements.  I don’t want Skye ever thinking that she’s a burden, or that I don’t want to be there for her.”

Phil stifles a grin.  Whatever May may say, he knows that she doesn’t appreciate the thought of being without the youngster.  After all, while it may be selfish, it’s how he too feels about his allotted times with Skye… which are never enough.  Noting that Melinda’s shoulders are still tensed though, Coulson looks at her intently.  “What is this really about?  Is it about Andrew being here?”

“No.” May responds indignantly.  Then she sighs.  “And yes.”  With a low groan she once again sets down the knife.

Coulson steps away, then returns a moment later with another open beer.  He hands it to her wordlessly.  She knows that he expects her to talk anyway.

May takes a long swig of beer before reluctantly starting to speak.  “You know that so long ago, before… _before Bahrain_ , _Andrew and I were trying to start a family_.  It was what we both wanted more than anything in the world.  I put an abrupt end to that.  Now he shows up after so long and I am suddenly mothering a child, without him.  And in his eyes, I’m sure I already seem like a lousy one,” she adds in a mutter.

“Ah, Mel, c’mon, he’s a better person than that.  It’s…”

But Agent May interrupts him again, deciding suddenly that she’s not up for this chat.  “Never mind.”  May rolls her neck, to work out a few kinks.  “Anyway, I just hope that Andrew can delve into some of these deeper matters with Skye soon.  Once she’s able to talk about it and get it all out, maybe the nightmares will stop.”

Coulson nods.  “I hope so.  Though, you know, with Skye’s troubled past and tough experiences, bringing them to the surface may result in some… behavioral problems from her.  Most likely only temporary, but still…”

Melinda blinks and flashes Phil her familiar smirk.  “You’ve been watching ‘Supernanny’ again, haven’t you?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified.”  And ignoring May’s chuckle, Coulson holds up his beer in salute to her and walks resolutely out of the kitchen.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Over the next month, Skye falls into a new routine of spending a half hour with Dr. Garner twice a week.  She looks forward to these visits for the most part as the psychologist only subtly guides their conversations, while allowing Skye to color a picture pertaining to their topic for that day.

About three weeks in, Andrew delicately brings up the topic of family.  He isn’t entirely sure how Skye will respond, but the youngster pleasantly surprises him by beaming with happiness and launching into a speech all about her SHIELD family and her recent adoption.  The picture that she ends up coloring is such that Dr. Garner just has to share it with said family.

As Skye is being put down for her afternoon nap that day, Andrew brings the child’s drawing to the rec room, where everyone but May is congregated. 

“Hey guys,” Andrew states by way of greeting to the agents.  “I asked Skye to draw me a picture of what ‘family’ means to her, and I thought you should see what she drew.”  He holds up the picture for everyone to see.

Several of the agents ‘awww’ or declare, ‘how cute!’  Coulson however stares at it for several long seconds.  Finally, he clicks the comm in his ear and says, “May… could you come to the rec room?  And bring Skye’s file.  You know, the one from the orphanage.”

Phil receives many curious looks, but before anyone can summon up the nerve to ask questions, May enters the room, file in hand. 

Coulson takes it from her and begins rifling through it.  “May and I visited the orphanage where Skye grew up.  They gave us this file… a small collection of school papers, drawings and things.  This um… this new picture just reminded me of them.”  He finds the drawing that he is referring to and pulls it out.  “It’s quite… different.”

May watches curiously as Coulson pulls out a heartbreaking drawing from Skye’s past.  She recognizes it and gives it only a glance while the other agents close in to get a good view.

The picture is a drawing of a happy family… a mother, father, young boy and girl… inside a large pink heart.  Outside of the heart, seemingly lost in a white void, is a little girl looking longingly in.  As everyone is familiar with Skye’s artistic style by now, it is obvious to all that that ‘outsider’ is Skye herself. 

“Ohhh,” Jemma murmurs sadly, understanding right away.  “I… I suppose that this is how Skye felt her entire young life, isn’t it?”

“The first time around… yeah, I imagine so,” Coulson agrees solemnly.  There is now a twinkle in his eye that the other agents can’t help but wonder about though.  “But now… I think it’s safe to say that that has changed.”  To prove his point, Coulson holds up that devastating old drawing next to the one Skye just did for Andrew.

Everyone looks between the two and smiles brightly as they spot the difference.  The new drawing depicts a smiling little Skye in the very center with a small, brown monkey at her feet.  In a near-perfect circle around her stand the seven adults currently in her life.  To her right, holding her hand, stands a woman with long, black hair that everyone understands to be May.  Coulson, brown-haired and wearing a suit, holds onto her left hand.  Above and below them are the five other cherished adults who love her.  Everyone can see that the little girl has ‘connected’ them to herself with a heart.

Feeling her eyes well up, Bobbi says quietly, “she certainly doesn’t seem to be looking in from the outside anymore, does she?”  Several others smile and nod in agreement.

Andrew now steps forward with a grin.  “Now this, especially compared to those other drawings she did in the past, is a very conceptually-healthy depiction of family from a six year-old,” the psychologist explains.  “You’re right, she’s not on the outside.  She is right smack in the middle… healthy, well-adjusted children at this age do often think of themselves as the center of their own universe,” he quips with a smirk.  “Then, the fact that she is surrounded by all of you shows how safe and protected she feels.  And of course, the hearts are self-explanatory.  She loves you all, and recognizes your love for her.”

The room falls silent for a moment as everyone stares at every detail of the drawing and tries to keep their emotions in check.  Mack actually turns away for a moment, muttering about "something in my eye'".  Coulson takes the opportunity to lean closer to May and whisper in her ear, “still questioning whether this is the best place for her?”

Melinda feels an unfamiliar stinging behind her eyes and hides it by elbowing Coulson lightly in the ribs.

“Wait… wait a minute,” Fitz suddenly says.  “I don’t understand.  Who is this woman?” he asks, pointing to the woman with long, black hair holding Skye’s right hand.

“What?” Jemma asks, giving him a confused look.  “That’s May, of course.”

“Nah, can’t be,” Fitz retorts.  “Look, she’s smiling…”

This evokes an amused smirk and a playful smack on Fitz’s arm from the real Agent May as everyone else cracks up.

“I know that we’re all still not used to it,” Coulson teases, as the laughter just begins to die down.  “But that is what Skye brings out in May, and thus, how she sees her.”

While everyone else nods in cheerful agreement, Dr. Andrew Garner simply gazes in wonder at his ex-wife and the completely different woman she has recently become.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

One week later, Mack and Fitz are to be found installing a security panel in the wall of the rec room.  It is the final touch on the first of a series of projects that the team began planning in response to Jemma and Skye’s abduction to Asgard… safe rooms located throughout the base, should it ever be infiltrated or attacked.  While any team member will be able to access and seek safety in these small, secure rooms, it is with Skye in mind that each is being constructed, one in every room that the youngster tends to spend time in.

Thus, this safe room will be the first of many, and both Mack and Fitz are quite proud of it.  The entrance is extremely well-hidden.  A section of the wall has been inconspicuously cut along the breaks between bricks to swing forward as a door.  When closed, these seams are completely undetectable.

Fitz finishes drilling in the last screw of the panel, and blows away all remaining dust.  “Now,” he mutters, pushing a few buttons on the keypad, “you need to input your handprint.  Press your hand to the screen,” he prompts, backing out of the way.

Mack does so, and hears a beep confirming the scan of his hand.  Fitz then follows suit, scanning his hand as well.

“All right, now we get the rest of the team scanned in, and show them how it works.  Including Skye.”

And so, five minutes later, the rest of the team is gathered and everyone has scanned their handprints in.  After Skye does so, she and the team watch curiously as Fitz hides the panel with a thin cover that perfectly lines up with the bricks surrounding it.

“So,” Mack explains, “if anyone ever needs an awesome place to hide, this is it.  Completely concealed entrance, soundproof, featuring an inner lining that prevents it from being detected by infrared scanners.  You just lift up the cover, stick your hand against the panel, and… voila.”  As he presses his hand against the panel, it scans quickly, then everyone hears a click as the small hidden door releases and swings slightly open. 

There are impressed murmurs as Hunter moves forward and opens the door further, then ducks inside.  “Huh.  Snug,” he remarks, “but effective.”

The rest peer inside as well to note that the space is about 5x3 feet, enough for perhaps three adults and one cute youngster to sit in, though they would only be comfortable for a relatively short time. 

“So,” Coulson begins, “once a person is in there…”

“Ah, well… there is another panel inside, and pressing your hand to it will shut the door.  Then you touch the red icon of the lock to seal it,” Fitz explains, proudly.  “On the panel you can observe, by security camera, what is going on out in this room.  A person can either use that to determine when it is safe to reemerge, or wait for the ‘all-clear signal’.  When the all-clear sounds, you press your hand to the panel again and then touch the green icon to unlock and open the door back up.”

“Yep.  It would probably be a good idea for everyone to give it a try,” Mack states slowly, and the agents understand ‘everyone’ to really mean Skye.

Hunter, who is still currently seated within the small safe room, nods and gives Skye a smile and a wave.  “Ok then, here I go.  See you in a minute,” he says cheerfully.  He moves his hand to the inner wall and the door closes securely. 

Skye leans into Jemma, looking uncomfortable.  Simmons gives her a reassuring smile and a gentle squeeze.

“Now, there is a speaker inside, so when I announce an ‘all-clear’, it will sound in the safe room,” Fitz explains, pressing buttons on his tablet.  “Like so…”

A few seconds later, the door clicks back open and Hunter reappears.  “Well, that was quite easy.  Very user-friendly, mates,” he states jovially.  “Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” May offers, stepping forward from behind Coulson.  She repeats the process of opening the door, then kneels down and crawls inside.  She sits down, glancing around, then holds a hand out.  “Bǎo bèi, come try this out with me,” she prompts, looking up at Skye.

But the little girl shakes her head, moving slightly behind Simmons and looking nervous.

May blinks and exchanges a look with Jemma, who nods.

“Hey, Skye…” Jemma begins carefully in her softest voice, kneeling to look into the child’s eyes.  “You know how good you are at playing hide-and-seek, darling?  Well this is one of the best, most secret hiding places ever!  How about we give it a try?  I’ll go first,” she offers, giving Skye’s hair a gentle stroke.  She joins May inside the safe room, sitting cross-legged next to her.  “Oh well now, there is plenty of space in here.  Will you come sit with us, darling?”

Skye still looks very nervous and shakes her head.  Furrowing his eyebrows in concern, Coulson leans down to be level with his daughter and says, “hey sweetie.  We all need to know how this room works.”

Mack quickly adds, “it’s important for *every agent* to know.  And well, as our junior agent…” he trails off, knowing how much that means to the little girl. 

Phil gives Mack a grateful smile, and rubs little Skye’s back.  “Mommy and Jemma are in there, sweetie.  You’ll just go sit with them for one minute, show us that you can open the door from inside, then all three of you can come right back out, ok?” 

Skye still looks very uncomfortable, but she doesn’t struggle too much when her father gently nudges her toward the door.  She allows Jemma to reach out and guide her in, but squirms when Jemma pulls her into her lap. 

As Skye peers frantically around the small, barren space, she looks like she may start to panic.  May gently strokes her cheek.  “It’s ok, bǎo bèi.  How about we just sit with the door open for a minute,” she offers, wondering where this fear is coming from. 

The little girl in Jemma’s lap nods, and takes a deep breath that sounds quite shaky.  It doesn’t seem to help, though.

“All done,” Skye suddenly mutters hoarsely, wriggling to get up. 

Thinking it best to just get this over with, May quickly says, “all right, Skye, we’ll just practice it once, then we’ll be all done.”  With that, she quickly presses her own hand to the panel and the door swings closed.  The room becomes almost pitch black instantly, save for a few tiny lights on the panel.

“NOOO!” Skye suddenly shrieks, turning completely wild at once.  She bursts into tears, fights against Jemma and starts pounding on the hidden door. 

Utterly bewildered, May hears a pleasant robotic voice say “all clear” and hurries to prompt the distressed little girl.  “Ok, Skye, calm down, honey.  Just press your hand on that panel right th…”  May is cut off however as a flailing little arm flies up and hits her right in the face.

“NO, no, Daddy… DADDY!!” Skye screams through her sobs, still pounding desperately on the door.  “Open… OPEN!!”

Jemma now tries.  “Skye, darling, just put your hand on the…”

But a loud wail cuts off the scientists’ words.  May decides that she must put an end to this.  She grabs Skye and pulls her into her own lap, then finds the child’s tiny hand by touch and presses it to the panel.  Before Skye can struggle too much, May then guides her hand to touch the green icon.

A click is heard and the door swings open.  A sobbing little blur shoots like a bullet out of the small space, then flies right past all the agents and out of the rec room.  Bobbi, who is closest to the door, follows her out.

Simmons, hair tousled from the struggle, looks up at the rest of the team.  “Whoa…”.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

“Skye!  Skye, honey, come here,” Bobbi coos, catching up to the youngster and scooping her up into her arms. 

Skye continues to cry and struggles lightly in Morse’s arms. 

“Hey, hey… it’s all right, munchkin.  Was that scary?”

Skye nods, then starts to cough due to how hard she’s crying. 

Footsteps sound nearby and Bobbi turns to see May quickly approaching.  Rubbing Skye’s back, Morse whispers down, “hey… you want Mommy?”

To Morse’s great surprise, Skye shakes her head and buries her wet face in Bobbi’s shoulder. 

Having not heard the question, Melinda approaches and holds her arms out.  “Skye… come here, bǎo bèi.”

Once again, Skye shakes her head firmly and clings even tighter to Morse. 

May blinks and Bobbi shrugs at her.  Feeling her heart sink, May swallows hard and says, “ok, you can stay with Bobbi, bǎo bèi.  But we need to talk about what just happened.”

The concerned mother nods toward the dining room and Bobbi walks Skye inside.  As they are settling down at the table Coulson enters as well, carrying something brown and furry. 

“Here you go, sweetie,” he says softly, gently pressing Trip against Skye’s arms.  Without looking up the little girl opens an arm and accepts her beloved stuffed monkey.  She squeezes him tight but keeps her face hidden against Bobbi.

“Skye,” May begins softly, “I’m… I’m sorry, bǎo bèi.” 

The desolate little girl sniffles, and finally turns her head to look at her adoptive mother.

Melinda goes on.  “I should have realized how scared you were, that you weren’t ready for the door to be closed.  I know that you don’t like the dark, Skye.  And I knew that it would get pretty dark.  I…I shouldn’t have done that.  I’m sorry, baby.”

Skye wipes her face on Trip’s fur, then hiccoughs.  Just when she looks to be calming down a bit, her eyes well up with tears again and she whimpers, “I don’t wanna go in there…”

Morse kisses the top of Skye’s head and holds her close, murmuring, “ok, shhh… it’s all right, munchkin.”

At this moment, Jemma, Fitz, Mack and Hunter all appear quietly in the doorway, looking concerned.  May spots them and shakes her head, indicating that they shouldn’t come in.  When Jemma still looks quite concerned though, Melinda nods that she will fill them in later.  Simmons nods back and regretfully heads back out.

Coulson reaches over to stroke Skye’s hair.  “Skye?  How come you were so afraid, sweetie?  Can you tell us why you felt so scared?” he asks gently, but curiously.

Little Skye takes a shuddering breath.  After a minute’s hesitation, she manages to squeak out, “I don’t wanna be locked in.”

May has to stop herself from pointing out that that is the point of that room.

“I see,” Coulson says softly.  He exchanges a look with May, then asks even more carefully, “sweetheart… have you ever been locked in somewhere before?”

A tentative nod is the child’s response.

Coulson’s eyebrows raise and he swallows hard.  “Where was that Skye?  Who locked you in?”

May shuts her eyes tight, suspecting that what she’s about to learn is going to make her blood boil.  She’s not wrong.

Skye gives another little sob, and her voice is muffled in Bobbi’s shoulder as she speaks.  “At… at the Jenning’s house.  They… they locked me in the c-closet.”

Bobbi’s heart leaps into her throat.  May’s blood boils indeed, and she stands in order to quietly pace off some of her rising anger.  Coulson however forces himself to remain calm and nonchalant, in the hopes that Skye will feel comfortable enough to share more.

“Okay sweetheart… did they say why they did that?”

At the soft tone, Skye is comforted.  She had been worried that her new parents would think she was bad, because she had been locked up in punishment.  She turns slightly and glances at Coulson before answering.  “Th-the first time was cause I drawed on the walls wif a marker,” she admits, looking very ashamed.

“The *first* time?” Bobbi asks heavily, feeling tears well up in her own eyes.  “Oh munchkin… how old were you?  Do you know?”

Skye shrugs, then looks thoughtful.  Finally, with a sniffle, she holds up three fingers.  Then she switches it to four.  Then back to three.

“Okay… you were three or four,” Coulson states, forcing a reassuring smile at the youngster.  “So, it happened other times, too, after that?”

Skye hiccoughs again and nods, then proceeds to rub her eyes with her tiny fists.

Having swallowed her anger by mining it deep down, May forces herself to stop pacing and return to sit next to her little girl.  “Bǎo bèi… honey… how long were you locked in that closet?  Do you have any idea?”

Skye fidgets nervously again, then shrugs, thinking.  Finally, she responds, “they locked me in after breakfast.  When I could come out, it was bedtime.”  With this, the child dissolves into sobs again, so sure that May and Coulson will realize what an awful kid she is, and decide they don’t want her anymore.

“Oh Skye,” Phil mutters, less able to hide his breaking heart now.  May can see a shimmer in his eyes as he moves forward to collect Skye from Bobbi, who has tears running silently down her cheeks.  Coulson picks Skye up and holds her close to him, whispering into the little girl’s hair, “I’m sorry sweetie… I’m so, so sorry.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

The team, who is feeling the throngs of sadness and despair right along with Skye again, manages to cheer her up considerably that evening by cooking a spaghetti dinner and introducing her to a new-to-her treat: root beer floats.  The child has not been allowed soda once since being with the SHIELD team, because as Jemma often points out, “carbonated pop has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever; it’s nothing but sugar, and it rots your teeth”.  On this night however, the team overrules her halfhearted objections, insisting that everyone deserves a treat now and then.

Skye makes a strange face upon first tasting root beer, not quite sure how she feels about it.  Once it is paired with vanilla ice cream, however, Skye’s expression turns to one of absolute delight.  The morale of the team in turn rises immediately right along with her.  To further get everyone’s mind off of things, they choose a new animated movie to watch: ‘Despicable Me’[2].  Skye loves it, relating especially to the little orphan girls, and the team actually feels somewhat reassured by the fictional kids’ strange new home environment.  (“Well, there you have it,” Hunter had whispered to Bobbi.  “A villain’s dungeon-like lair certainly can’t be more reasonable than a SHIELD base.”)  By the next morning, Skye was happily declaring to Trip, “you’re so cute and fluffy!!!” and the ‘Frozen’ characters in Skye’s usual drawings were now surrounded by small yellow ‘minions’.  All seemed well again.

 

**After the safe room incident…**

Although the first month of therapeutic sessions with Andrew had gone quite well, as soon as they start delving deeper into Skye’s past and probing into her inner fears and feelings, the prediction that the team may start to experience some wayward behavior from the youngster begins to come true.  It starts manifesting simply enough… Skye starts to disobey or even ignore instructions, or throw tantrums when asked to stop an activity or get ready for bed.  The agents scold her for the naughty behavior, but as they had been warned that this might happen and they are aware of where it’s coming from, they also exercise great patience and understanding for the confused little girl.

Finally though, Skye’s behavior crosses a line and enough is enough. 

After bringing the youngster home from school one day, a very frazzled Agent Morse delivers Skye to Jemma with the quiet instruction of, ‘a basic, healthy snack only… no treats!’  Simmons bites her lip and whispers, “wow… that bad?”  To which Morse replies, “you have *no* idea”.

From there, Morse seeks out May and finds her working out in the training room.  Secretly thinking it good that May might have already worn herself out a bit, Morse waits quietly for acknowledgment before approaching.  Melinda May knows immediately by the look on Bobbi’s face that she won’t like what she’s about to hear.

“So,” Morse begins, cutting right to the chase.  “Skye did not have a good day at school today.  I just brought her home a bit early.”

May blinks, pausing her wipe down with a towel held in mid-air and glancing at the clock.  “Really?  Is she okay?  What happened?”

“Oh, she’s fine.”  Bobbi forces a smile that looks more like a grimace.  “It’s more a matter of ‘what didn’t happen?’”  Knowing that she’s about to make a certain deadly mother rather unhappy, Morse feels a sense of dread as she slowly holds up a piece of paper.  “I made notes of her… unpleasant behavior.”

May’s jaw drops slightly as she stares at the paper, which is completely filled with writing.  “What?!” she asks, in stunned disbelief.  “That is a list of things that my daughter did wrong today?” she adds, a hint of danger in her dissatisfied tone.

Slightly worried now for Skye’s chances of making it to her seventh birthday, Morse quickly says, “well… yes.  However… she hasn’t had a nap today, at all”.

Although surprised by this, Melinda isn’t fooled.  Knowing that Bobbi is making excuses to try to spare the little girl, May smirks and asks, “so, did everything on that very extensive list happen after her usual naptime?”

The superspy avoids shifting uncomfortably and purposefully maintains eye contact with May.  “Well… no.  But they also had an assembly this morning, which threw Skye off her routine a bit,” she points out.

May nods, knowing that change can sometimes be hard on the youngster, who had little to no consistency throughout her (previous) childhood and relies on it now to feel secure in this one.

Morse suddenly gets an idea.  “Hey… here’s a thought.  We weren’t here for the parent/teacher conference night for Skye’s class… we were in St. Petersburg dealing with that moron selling Chitauri weapon parts.  Why don’t we handle this like a parent/teacher conference?  Discuss today with her that way?” she suggests.

Once again, Melinda isn’t fooled.  She knows that while frazzled, Bobbi still wants to protect little Skye from her mother’s wrath.  The stoic agent raises an eyebrow and asks, “worried that I might throttle my daughter?”

At this, Bobbi genuinely smiles.  “No, May.  I know that you love that little girl more than life itself.”  She quickly lifts her hands to indicate peace as she adds, “don’t worry, that secret is safe with me.  I wouldn’t want to damage your reputation.”

Both women chuckle, knowing that Morse is absolutely right.

“No, really, it’s just a normal school experience that kids go through.  And that’s what we all want for Skye this time around, right?  A normal childhood?”  Bobbi sees May’s smirk and adds, “oh, c’mon”.  She has missed being undercover and thinks it may even be fun to ‘play teacher’…

Melinda scoffs and shakes her head.  “Fine,” she agrees, handing the list of Skye’s ‘crimes’ back to Morse.  “I’ll get Skye.  Meet us in the rec room in fifteen minutes.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

As Agent May walks out of the room and down the hall, she takes several calming breaths and thinks about her little girl.  Aside from a few very minor issues that were handled by whoever accompanied Skye on a given day, the child has very rarely ever gotten in trouble at school.  She understands that an assembly disrupting her schedule could have been an added stressor for her daughter, but that can hardly account for the long list of misdeeds that Morse recorded. 

Hearing that Skye never went down for a nap is disarming news as well.  This is the first time May has ever heard of Skye going without a nap, and the new mother actually feels a twinge of pain at that.  Will the youngster stop needing naps altogether soon?  Is she growing up that quickly?

Wondering bemusedly at the sad despair that thought brings, Melinda takes another deep breath before coming to a stop in the doorway of Coulson’s office.

The SHIELD Director spots May and holds up a finger, then points to the Bluetooth in his ear.  Melinda enters and stands ‘at ease’ while Coulson finishes up his conversation.

“Yes, I understand that, but it still sounds dangerous and… yeah, I get that, Mr. Stark, but… fine, ‘Tony’, anyway, I doubt that it… yeah, all right.  Look, I need to go.  Just keep in mind that… okay, good.  We’ll talk again soon.  Bye.”

Phil presses a button on his phone and exhales heavily before turning to his right-hand woman.

Melinda smirks.  “’Iron Man’ come up with another hare-brained scheme?”

Coulson smiles ironically and shrugs.  “Always.  What’s up?”

Melinda moves forward to face the Director from across his desk.  “Well… your daughter rather misbehaved at school today.”

Phil raises his eyebrows.  “Oh… so, when she’s naughty, she becomes ‘my’ daughter?” he quips.

“Of course.  *My child* is perfectly well-behaved,” is Melinda’s dead pan reply.  The effect is rather lost as she grins slightly though.  “Anyway, Morse thinks it might be… ‘fun’… to handle it like a parent/teacher conference.  We’ll be meeting in the rec room.  Care to join us?”

Phil sighs and gestures toward a mountain of paperwork.  “While that does sound like ‘fun’,” he states, using the same sarcastic tone that May had just employed, “I was just sent these by Agent Weaver.  Possible candidates for recruitment, including some very promising CS cadets.”  He sighs heavily.  “Fitz is quite good with computer science, but I can’t go on pretending that losing Skye’s skills wasn’t a major blow.  I’ve got to get on this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” May teases.  “You just want no part in having to scold your little princess.”

Coulson shrugs sheepishly.  “And there’s that,” he admits.

Melinda sighs and shakes her head.  “Wimp,” she mutters, as she turns to leave.

Before she goes, Phil just can’t help himself.  “Hey, Mel?”

May turns back and looks at him.

With a pained expression, Coulson says, “just… go easy on her, okay?”

But May shakes her head.  “No.  It’s your job to baby her.  It’s my job to ensure that she grows into the intelligent, hard-working, respectful and capable young woman that we know she can be.”  Without waiting for a response, May heads out to fetch her daughter.

Phil considers this, and remarks just what a perfectly balanced set of parents Skye ended up with.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

With a newfound determination, the agent mother heads straight for the kitchen, where she knows that Skye will be having a snack with Jemma.  When Melinda reaches the doorway she spots Skye sitting at the table eating grapes while Jemma gently strokes her hair.  She pauses to watch the two for a moment.

“Darling, you need to eat your carrots, not just the grapes.  Carrots are very good for you!  They are full of biotin, and Vitamin A through beta-carotene, and…”

But Skye, looking somewhat grumpy, her little legs kicking back and forth under the table, interrupts.  “I don’t like em, Jemma.  Can’t I have a cookie?”

Simmons sighs, looking forlorn at not getting to spoil her little ‘sister’.  “Not today, I’m afraid, little one.”

Skye whines and pushes her plate away as she finishes her grapes.

May enters the room then with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.  “Skye… front and center,” she commands.

The little girl jumps slightly, recognizing the ‘you’re in trouble’ voice.  She obediently slides off her chair, grabbing Trip from the chair next to her, and comes to the exact spot that her mother is indicating, right in front of her.  Looking up with wide eyes, the little imp offers up an innocent smile and timidly says, “hi, Mommy”.

May tries to maintain her disapproving manner, but damn if it isn’t difficult every single time she hears that sweet word.  “Hello, my bǎo bèi.”

Before Skye can look too pleased with herself at May’s slightly softer tone, the intimidating mother makes it stern once more and says, “oh no.  You are in big trouble, young lady.  I hear that you were very, very naughty at school today.  Is that true?”

The smile slips right off the little girl’s face as she hangs her head and shrugs, hugging Trip tightly to her for comfort.

May shakes her head.  “I think you know.  You and I are going to go discuss it with Bobbi now.  But first…” May points back to the kitchen table.  “Go get three carrots off that plate.”

Little Skye whines, thinking that her day can’t possibly get any worse.  The poor child has no idea just how wrong she is.

“Now,” May scolds.  “And say ‘thank you’ to Jemma for making you a snack,” she adds.

The sullen youngster drags herself back to the table and picks out the three smallest baby carrots she can find.  “Thank you, Jemma,” she mutters, as ordered.

Simmons gives the little girl a sympathetic smile and nods.  “You’re welcome, darling.”

Melinda nods in approval as Skye makes her way back over to her and says, “you’re going to eat those before we go to the rec room.  Go on.”

And with a look of utter misery, little Skye starts nibbling on the carrots, giving the offending vegetables a dirty look.

Melinda nods again, stifling a smile at the child’s dramatics.  When Skye has finally choked down all three, her mother offers her hand to the little girl and leads her into the rec room.

Upon entering, May can barely contain a derisive laugh.  Bobbi apparently really had been missing the opportunities to ‘role-play’ that come along with undercover work.  She has brought in a desk from a nearby office, and turned the couch so that the desk faces it.  The elite spy has also changed into a long grey skirt and white blouse, pulled her long, blond tresses into a ponytail and is wearing her glasses.  Her posture is perfect and her hands are clasped professionally on top of the familiar list of misdeeds on the desk.

May shakes her head, thinking this somewhat ridiculous, and looks down to see even Skye giving Bobbi an odd look.  Morse rolls with it however, and gestures toward the couch.  “Ah yes… please come in.”

Skye giggles quietly, wondering why her grown-up playmate and caretaker is acting so strange, but stifles it quickly under her mother’s gaze.  May sits down on the couch and Skye climbs up next to her, sitting cross-legged and hugging Trip again.

“Now,” Morse begins seriously, looking to May.  “I called you in for this conference because I’m quite concerned about Skye’s behavior at school today.  Frankly, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Again trying to ignore thoughts of, ‘this is ridiculous’, May turns her disapproving gaze back toward her daughter.  Skye is hanging her head once again and pouting, fidgeting as usual.

“Skye’s misbehavior was so rampant that I had to make a list,” Bobbi goes on, glancing at the sulking little girl over the top of her glasses.  “I think the way this will work best is if we review the list, then Skye can explain her side of things at the very end.  Okay?”  Both May and Skye nod.

“All right then.  Let’s see… well, before school even started, Skye was upset.  It seemed that someone had already fed Anna and Olaf, the class rats, before Skye could do it.”

“That’s my job!” Skye interjects heatedly.  “They’re mine!”

Bobbi sighs.  “Skye, we’ve been over this.  They are not yours, munchkin, they are class pets.  Your friends want to help take care of them too, and that’s a nice thing.”

The youngster opens her mouth to argue, but Bobbi quickly cuts her off.  “Hold on, we agreed that you’ll get your chance to explain at the end.  So, no more for now.  Shh.”  Morse quickly goes on before Skye can retort.

“Next, Skye refused to sit on the carpet this morning because there wasn’t a purple dot available.  She…”

“Cause Ayla was in my spot!” the youngster suddenly interrupts.  “That’s *my* purple dot!”

Wanting to smack herself in the forehead over the absurdity of the child’s issue, May instead frowns heavily at Skye and scolds, “Skye, hush.  You’ll get your turn to explain at the end.”

“But I always sit there!” the little girl insists.

“Don’t interrupt, bǎo bèi.  Hush,” May repeats firmly.  Skye scowls and grips Trip tighter.

Morse shakes her head and gives May a little look.  The mother understands that this is an example of the behavior that the agent has had to deal with all day.

“Hmm… as I was saying… Skye shouted at her classmate, Ayla, and tried to pull her off of the purple dot, even though the children don’t have assigned dots.  It’s first-come, first-serve.”

“No, that one’s MY dot,” Skye insists again.  “I always…”

But the child is interrupted this time as May reaches over and takes Trip from her, then in one fluid motion draws the talkative youngster right over her lap.

“Heyyy,” Skye whines, squirming.

But Melinda just gives her daughter’s bottom a tap and says, “maybe in this position you’ll remember not to interrupt, little one.  Now, hush!”

Skye whines once more and kicks her little feet against the couch before giving up the fight and lying still.

May rests a hand gently on Skye’s back and nods to Morse.  “Go on.”

Bobbi stifles a smile as she nods back.  “Skye, just like Ms. Harrison explained this morning, that purple dot does not belong to you.  If someone else gets there first, you find another dot to sit on.  Do you understand?”

“But…” the youngster begins.  She cuts herself off however as her mother moves a hand down to pat her vulnerable backside.  Skye pouts and mutters, “yes.”

“Yes, what?” May prompts in a whisper, wanting the little girl to remember her manners.

“Yes, ma’am,” Skye responds dejectedly, squirming slightly again.

“Good girl,” May praises quietly, moving her hand up to rub the child’s back again.

After a pause, Bobbi continues.  “So next, Skye lost a Dojo point for talking during reading centers, after repeated reminders that…”

“But Trevor had my eraser and he…”

May sighs in frustration and gives her daughter a light swat.  “Skye, you are in enough trouble as it is, don’t make matters worse for yourself,” she warns quickly, in one breath.

At this, Skye growls in frustration and reaches out for a nearby pillow, pulling it down tightly over her head.  Her mother ‘tsk’s and tugs it away from her as well.

“Skye, stop interrupting, it’s rude,” Bobbi scolds.  “And if someone had your eraser you could raise your hand and let Ms. Harrison know, or use another one from your pencil case.  Shouting out during quiet centers is not the right thing to do.”

The only response to this is another light kick of the couch cushions.

Shaking her head, Morse consults the list again.  “After centers, there was a bit of a change in the schedule today and kindergarten through 3rd grade got to go to an assembly.  Skye did pretty well for the first ten minutes or so, but then started getting very antsy and talking to everyone around her.  The teacher reminded her to be quiet and still so many times that finally I had to have Skye come sit next to me.”  Morse gives May a small shrug, as this shouldn’t be surprising.  The child has always been an energetic little chatterbox.

Melinda clucks reproachfully and shakes her head, looking down at her adorable, yet naughty child.  “You do seem to have an awfully hard time sitting still, bǎo bèi.  Maybe we need to practice that more at home,” she chides.

Skye just whines quietly.

Knowing that it must be agony for her daughter to keep quiet, May asks, “what was the assembly about, Skye?”

With a light wriggle Skye props her chin up on her hand and says, “not talking to strangers… even if they has a puppy.”

Morse bites back a grin and nods as May smiles.  “I see.  Very good.  I’m glad you were still paying attention, bǎo bèi.”

Somewhat appeased by this praise, Skye simply lies back down in her designated spot across her mother’s knees, laying her head on her arms.

Melinda gently pats the youngster’s back and says to Bobbi, “well, there can’t possibly be more, can there?”

“Oh… I’m afraid so.  The day rather went downhill from there,” Morse replies sadly.

With a heavy sigh, May shakes her head.

Bobbi looks down at little Skye.  “Skye… why don’t you tell Mommy what happened at lunch?  Why didn’t you get to go to recess?”

Skye’s squirms return in full force as the youngster apparently gets nervous.  “Be-because…”

After a long moment, Bobbi prompts her again.  “Go on, Skye.  Or do you want me to tell her?”

A small sniffle can be heard from the little girl with her face buried in her arms, and the grown-ups barely hear her mutter, “y-you”.

May watches, almost amused, as Skye’s little hand moves back to protect her backside.  The agent mom knows that she won’t like what she’s about to hear.  Even Skye seems aware that she deserves a spanking.

“Well… when it was time for lunch and the classes were lined up to go into the cafeteria, Skye pushed another student, Jayden, because…”

“No!” Skye suddenly shrieks.  “No, I didn’t pushed Jayden!”

Bobbi blinks and frowns.  “Skye, I was there, I saw you do it, young lady.”

May now frowns too and looks down at her daughter.  “Are you fibbing, Skye?” she asks sternly.

“Nooo!” Skye insists.  “It wasn’t Jayden… Jayden’s a girl.  I pushed *Kayden*,” she corrects.

May rolls her eyes surreptitiously as Morse sighs in exasperation.  Bobbi then shrugs and admits, “it was a boy from another class; I thought his name was Jayden.  Anyway… that’s not the point.”

Melinda frowns again at the back of her daughter’s head.  “You pushed someone, Skye?  Why would you do that?”

Keeping her hand protectively over her bottom, Skye quickly replies, “because he cutted me in line!  It wasn’t his turn!”

May looks up at the ceiling, seeking the extra patience that she needs to handle this.  “So… Skye… you thought that the only thing you could do then was push him?  Tell me, little one, did that get you what you wanted?”

Skye sniffles again as she senses the trouble she is in.  “No,” she admits miserably.

Bobbi nods.  “That’s right, Skye.  You didn’t get to go next by pushing him.  *You* got sent to the end of the line, and had to sit out during recess, didn’t you?”

Skye gives a little sob at the unfairness of it all, and nods.  “Uh-huh.”

Melinda sets her resolve.  “Skye, that was not okay.  If someone cuts in front of you in line then you tell them to go to the end.  If that doesn’t work, then you tell a grown-up.  But you don’t push someone.  That was not a good choice.”  With that, the agent-mother pulls Skye’s little hand away from her bottom and plants three firm swats on the seat of her soft black pants. 

Skye lets out a cry and wriggles again, resulting in May tugging her in more securely.

Feeling bad, even when she knows she shouldn’t, Melinda asks, “is there anything *else* I need to know about, young lady.”  She glances up at Bobbi to see the agent nodding warily.

“No!” Skye shouts, sounding half sad, half indignant.

May’s eyebrows furrow as she frowns deeply.  “Skye Daisy Mayson,” she says sternly.  “You have never lied to me before, don’t you *dare* start now.”  This is followed by another firm pop to the little girl’s backside.

Skye cries again and kicks her feet.

“Now… what happened next?” May asks, incredulous that there could possibly be more.

Morse sighs sadly as she hears Skye sniffle.  “Well… after the kids came in from lunch they were given 10 minutes to play with manipulatives in the classroom.  Skye chose to build with blocks, along with a few other students…” Bobbi is interrupted by a sob from Skye, who seems to know that she’s about to be in trouble again.  “Skye was playing next to a boy named Brendan, who is really quite nice to her.  At one point however… he lost his balance when he was standing up, and *accidently* knocked into Skye’s tower.”

May shuts her eyes tight, as she has a feeling she knows where this is going.

“Well… Skye decided to get even, I suppose, and she knocked his tower down, *on purpose*.” 

May grits her teeth as her suspicions are confirmed.  The upset mother lifts her hand once again, but Bobbi catches her eye and quickly holds up a hand to indicate ‘wait’.

Morse continues quickly, this time in rapid Mandarin which she’s sure little Skye won’t understand.  “Ms. Harrison sent Skye to a time-out for this, and Skye ‘freaked out’ at that, of course.”  May nods, knowing how emotionally traumatizing time-outs are for her daughter.  “So I asked her teacher to let me take care of it.  I took Skye out to the hall and gave her a talking-to and a few good swats.  So, she’s already been punished for that one.”

May nods in understanding, and glances down sadly at her little girl for a moment.  The youngster truly has had a very rough day.

Switching back to English, Bobbi says, “Skye and I discussed what happened and why it was wrong of her to knock his tower down.”

May pats the sniffling youngster’s back and says gently, “tell me, bǎo bèi.”

Skye slowly relaxes a bit at hearing her mother’s softer tone.  “I… I shouldn’ta knocked his tower down, be-because he didn’t meaned it, and when I did it I did meaned it, and… and that’s not fair,” she recites in her adorably butchered English.

Melinda manages a little smile and nods.  “That’s right.  Okay.  I’m glad you understand.”

Skye lets out an audible sigh of relief… but apparently they are *still* not done.

“Finally,” Morse states, “Skye got to go to music for the first time today, as she’s normally napping by that point.”  Bobbi looks pointedly at May, who nods her understanding that Skye had to be overly tired and overwrought by then.  “Well, Skye was upset because she didn’t get the instrument that she wanted, so… she threw a maraca across the room.”  Morse sighs in frustration at the memory.  “That was when I decided that she just didn’t deserve a nice treat like music class, and that she needed to come home.”

While May’s jaw drops slightly in disbelief, she can still appreciate Bobbi’s choice of words.  She too wants Skye to view *school* as a treat, and to be properly ashamed of having to come home early. 

“Well, Skye Daisy Mayson,” Melinda scolds again, tapping the child’s backside.  “Imagine having been so naughty that you can’t even stay at school.”  Saying this is a reminder that May needs to make it very clear that behaving this badly at school will not be tolerated.  “I am *very* disappointed in you, young lady.  What do you have to say for yourself?”

The sometimes sensitive little girl begins to sniffle under the chastisement.  “I-I’n sorry, Mommy,” the youngster cries.

“And what about what you put your poor Aunt Bobbi through?” Melinda reminds her.

Skye lets out a little sob and turns her head to glance up at her beloved aunt.  “I’n sorry, Auntie!”

Morse nods sadly.  “I hope you are, munchkin,” she adds, now slipping off her glasses.  “Because I don’t want you to have another day like this ever again.”

May nods in agreement.  “Now… how many Dojo points did you end up with today?” she asks, remembering the point system that is used in the classroom, for the children to earn rewards.

“I… I don’t know,” Skye responds honestly, with a loud sniffle.

Bobbi holds up only three fingers.

May’s eyebrows raise.  Skye has never gotten less than nine points in one day.  “It looks like you only got three points today.  And you’re supposed to get ten, aren’t you?” she prompts.

Skye whines and nods miserably. 

May takes a deep breath before declaring little Skye’s ‘sentence’.  “Well then… I am going to give you a swat for every point that you missed today, due to your bad behavior,” the mother decides.  “You were supposed to get ten points, and you only got three.  What is ten minus three, Skye?”

Despite a few fresh tears that fall down Skye’s cheeks, she reaches her little hands out in front of her and holds up ten fingers.  She slowly lowers three of them, one at a time, and replies, “seven,” in a quavering voice.

“That’s right.  Very good, bǎo bèi.  Seven swats, for your naughty behavior today.”  With that, May lowers Skye’s little black pants, and quickly applies the seven firm swats she promised her daughter.

By the time it is done, Skye is squirming again and crying in earnest.  Both May and Bobbi know that it couldn’t have hurt much, though.  For all of May’s determination to be strict with her daughter, she is, secretly, as far under little Skye’s ‘spell’ as everyone else is.  Perhaps even moreso.  This is evident in how Melinda scoops the little girl up and comforts her immediately after her punishment, in how she brushes her tears away and kisses her cheeks, in how she assures the child that she is a good girl and can start anew.  And with all of this comfort offered so freely by her mother, Skye finally manages to drift off for a late nap, much to everyone’s relief.  Even then, little Skye gets to sleep safely in her mother’s arms.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

About an hour and a half later, Skye awakens, still comfortably nestled on May’s lap.  Within minutes she is wide awake and squirming around restlessly.  Her mother leads her out of the room and the pair run into Mack in the hall. 

“Hey, there you are, princess,” he states with a grin.  “I was just coming to see if you wanted to come play on the roof with me.”…

When Mack had gone up to the roof an hour previously, he had been met with a very suspicious sight… a large wooden box left right in the center of the roof.  He had immediately returned inside and called the team, sans May, together to tell them about it.  Fitz used the rooftop surveillance footage to discover that Tony Stark himself, clad in one of his Iron Man suits had delivered the large package personally, making sure to wink into the camera before jetting off again.

Thanks to a closer inspection with an x-ray scanner, Fitz assured everyone of what was inside the box.  Now, the rest of the team is congregated on the roof, waiting to see little Skye’s reaction.

So now, Mack is leading both Skye and May (who has no idea what is going on but was pointedly invited to join them) up to the roof.  As they step out onto it, Skye immediately spots the box. 

“What’s that?” the child asks curiously, then gazes around in even more confusion at finding the entire rest of her family present.

“Don’t know,” Mack lies.  “But look, there’s a card.”

Coulson steps forward and detaches the card from the side of the box.  “Let’s see…

‘Dear Skye, you earned this little reward when you came to visit me, remember?  It took so long to get it to you because I had to make sure that it was absolutely perfect.  It is of course, and even better, it runs on cootie-power, so you’ll be able to use it, no problem.  Miss you, kid.  Hope you and your family come visit again soon.  From your pal, Iron Man’.

Skye looks excited, and more curious than ever when she says, “what is it??  Open it, open it!”  At a reproachful glance from May, the youngster then adds, “pleaseee?”

Fitz and Mack eagerly step forward and pry open the closest side of the box.

As soon as its contents are revealed, Skye squeals with obvious delight and starts jumping up and down.  “”It… it’s my Lola.  IT’S MY LOLA!!!”

Sure enough, it’s a child-sized version of Coulson’s beloved car.  Every detail seems to be painstakingly matched, except for its color.  Rather than the cherry red color of Phil’s Corvette, Skye’s little car has been painted a sparkly sky blue.  The color greatly resembles the hue of Elsa’s dress in ‘Frozen’, and no one imagines for a second that that is a coincidence.

While the rest of the team gazes at the miniature Lola in wonder and amuses themselves by watching Skye’s uninhibited joy, Coulson quietly sidles up to May and hands her the card.  “Um… May?  There is a P.S. that I chose not to read in front of Skye.  Take a look.”

Melinda takes the card and peers down at it.  Her jaw drops in horror as she reads the words, “P.S. yes, it actually does fly.  You’re welcome.”

Coulson runs an exasperated hand down his face and mutters, “I think I may kill him.”

May thrusts the card back into Phil’s hand before muttering, “get in line.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**The End**

**To be continued in Chapter 10.**

 

[1] Lopez, Kristen Anderson- and Robert.  “Love is an Open Door”.  Performed by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana.  ‘Frozen’ – Original Soundtrack Album.  Disney.  2013

[2] “Despicable Me”. 2010.  Steve Carrell.  Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud.  Illumination Entertainment.

**Author's Note:**

> Update 11/29/16: Due to feedback from a very kind native Mandarin speaker, I have changed the term of endearment that May uses for Skye. 'Qianjin' has become the more appropriate 'bǎo bèi'. Sorry for any confusion!
> 
> I appreciate all positive feedback on my works, and it encourages me to post more. Thank you for every 'Kudos' that you leave, and for telling me what you enjoy about my writing. Happy Reading!


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